Hope
by megbricks
Summary: Wrote this a while ago. Then I deleted it. It's a Shelby/Dustin, Shelby/Will fanfic. Dustin's abusive towards Shelby... Summary sucks but the story is decent. Warning: ABUSE
1. Chapter 1

Shelby walked in to Carmel with her fiancé, Dustin Goolsby's, arms rapped around her. He convinced, more or less forced her, to rejoin the _Vocal Adrenaline_ coaching staff.

With Rachel turning 17 soon she could get her back in a year, even though she'd be heading off to college soon after. She couldn't support a teenage daughter on her own. She knew that Dustin would be one of her only options if she wanted her daughter to be back with her permanently. Despite her love for Will she went for it with Dustin. They'd been going out since last year's regional.

Dustin had his arms around her waist still. She really didn't like him; he was mean, and treated her awfully and always got his way, no matter how much she resisted.

They walked down the empty hallway together to Shelby's office. He closed her door after they'd both gone in. She leaned on her desk, and he stood next to her. She faked a smile up at him and he kissed her. 'It is to early for him to get mad at me 'she thought and kissed him back.

Thankfully Jesse knocked on her door.

Since failing out of college he came back to help Shelby and Dustin coach the club. Shelby and Jesse were close. He could sense that she didn't love him like everyone else thought. He didn't know why though. Shelby turned her head seeing Jesse motioning for him to come in. She sat down.

"Am I interrupting something?" Jesse asked

"No. what can I do for you?" Shelby replied more then willingly to help him rather then spend time with Dustin before the school day started.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you could help me with a song" Shelby raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been competing there anymore and he failed out of college what more could he need a song for?

"Um, Sure. I'll be back" she pecked her fiancé's cheek and left the room with Jesse to the auditorium. They were halfway down the hall when Jesse asked: "What are you doing with him?"

"I'm marrying him…?" she responded slightly confused.

"You don't love him though."

"I don't think that's for you to decide Jesse. It's my choice and we're getting married with or without your approval." She paused to see if he had anything else to say on the subject. "So why do need my help with a song?"

"I wanna sing it to my girlfriend. " Shelby smiled.

"That's so cute."

"I'm not four. Not everything I do is cute anymore." He joked back at her.

She wanted to say 'I know you, tortured my daughter then threw eggs at her.'

"Not _everything_." She opened the door to the auditorium and he walked towards the stage. She followed him. On stage there was a chair. He motioned for her to sit.

"Can you pretend to be my girlfriend for this? I don't want to look like a complete idiot when I sing it to her." She smiled.

"Ok." She kept smiling and listened to him sing. I had no idea who his girl friend was at the time. Little did Shelby know she was walking towards the auditorium to see him. She opened the door. She couldn't see who I was but knew Jesse's voice, and she knew the song. It was a love song. He finished Shelby stood up and walked towards him.

"That was great Jesse." His girlfriend ran out the door. "She's going to love it. I gotta get some work done before classes start."

"Thanks Ms. Corcoran." She smiled.

"No problem." She walked out and back to her office Dustin was still there.


	2. Chapter 2

"What're you still doing in here? Classes are about to start…" she asked him.

"I should say the same for you," he looked at her. She turned her back to him grabbing her bag to go to her classroom. Dustin walked closer to her, putting his arms around her. He leaned over and kissed her. She kissed him back then pulled away.

"Babe, we got to go, we'll be late." She said smiling.

"Like I care." He grabbed her arm, leaning in to kiss her again.

"Well I do." The smile faded. She grabbed her arm back and picked her bag up and left the room, heading towards her classroom. The hallways were now more crowded, which made it slightly harder to navigate her way through the mobs of teenagers to her classroom. The day went by pretty slowly which she liked, until lunch. She walked into her office seeing Dustin already there.

"Hey," she walked over and sat by him.

"Will's tried to skype you like 6 times since I've got in here." He said annoyed. She smiled.

"Ok." She picked up her laptop and put it in her bag.

"Why can't you talk to him while you're with me?" he asked.

"Because he doesn't know we're engaged yet, and I don't intend on telling him." she walked over by him and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back, you have a free period after lunch don't you?"

"Yeah,"

"Okay," she grabbed her bag and headed towards the auditorium.

She sat down in the auditorium alone on the stage laying on her stomach. She video-called Will back.

"Hey!" He said smiling seeing her.

"We haven't talked in forever." She smiled.

"I know!" they smiled at each other. Shelby hesitated.

"How's New Directions?" she asked looking down.

"New Directions, or Rachel,"

"Both, Rachel hasn't talked to me since-"

"I know," he cut her off. "she's ok,"

"Still going out with Finn?"

"I think"

"Good."

"And as for New Directions, despite Quinn and Santana, they're all beginning to be ok with what happened at nationals."

"What about you?" she looked up at him, well through the computer. "Emma, Holly,-?"

"Neither, what about you?" he asked her. She paused not saying anything, trying to hide the ring on her finger. She bit down on her lip. "Shelby?" he tried again.

"Shelby-?" a voice called from the doors of the auditorium. "Babe?"

"Babe?" Will asked raising his eyebrow. She froze.

"I'm engaged," She said holding her hand up so he could see the ring on her finger.

"To-?"

"Dustin Goolsby" she muttered, looking down. Speaking of Dustin he was on his way down the steps.

"What!?" he demanded; his tone changing.

"Will, don't-"

"I got to go. Class is about to start." He said annoyed and ended the call.

"You couldn't have let me tell him in person?"

"You basically were…"

"No we weren't"

"Why do you always get so defensive about him?"

"I do not!" she closed her laptop putting it in her bag.

"Really, you don't think you get defensive?"

"Just let it go."

"No I-" she cut him off kissing him, putting her arms around his neck.

"I love you," she grabbed her bag and left the auditorium. She made it back to her office and started grading some English papers. She was bored out of her mind with it.

Justin must've been really mad at her, he hadn't come back to her office.

'Great, this'll be a fun night' she thought to herself.

She pulled her lunch out of her bag and ate it by herself. It wasn't much. She didn't eat much lately. She probably drank twice as much starbucks though. She needed coffee with the long hours of rehearsals, and then teaching, and then back to rehearsals. It never ended for her.


	3. Chapter 3

Shelby's office door swung open. She started apologizing without even looking up to see who it was.

"Dustin, babe, so-" she stopped when she looked up seeing it was Rachel. "Rachel… what are you doing here?" Shelby asked shocked.

Rachel looked down at her mother's hand, seeing the ring.

"Good to see you too, it's only been, what?, a year and a half Mom"

Shelby looked around the room avoiding her daughter's glare.

"You know don't you?" she asked looking down hanging her head.

"That you're engaged yes. To who though?" she asked.

"You're going to kill me." She admitted looking up.

"Who!?"

"Dustin Goolsby" she mumbled.

"What!"

"Dus-"

"I heard you the first time." She paused. "You happy now? Now you can have a big happy family with him and Beth." Tears were quietly streaming down her face. Shelby got up and out her arms around her. Rachel knew this may never happen again so instead of pushing her away, she cried into her shoulder and put her arms around her. "I do need you." Shelby combed her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"I'm sorry Rach. I do love you. You know that right?"

"Doesn't seem like it." she muttered looking up at her mother.

"Hold on." She called the office. "Can you do me a favor and get me an sub for my the rest of my English classes today?... Thanks"

"Why'd you do that?"

"I think we need to talk some things out." She said calmly. "Not here though." If they talked in there eventually Dustin would come see then to much would happen.

"You like Coffee?"

"Yes, I could live on it." Rachel admitted. Shelby smiled.

"You get that from me then."

"I figured, my dads can't stand it."

Shelby grabbed her keys and walked with her daughter out to the car.

"Shelby, Mom, I'm confused, I thought you and Will…" she stopped herself.

"Nope, we haven't talked since he suggested… that I wasn't ready for a teenage daughter." She tried to focus on driving.

"He's the reason…"

"No, not necessarily, he just reinforced it." It would've been easier to blame it on Will but lying would only make things worse. They got to Starbucks.

" Grande Double chocolate chip frappechino, nonfat light whip," Shelby rattled off.

"Same" Rachel said. Shelby handed the man her starbucks card, and they walked down to the end of the counter and waited for their drinks.

"Why did you think that I didn't need you?" Rachel asked looking down at her feet while they were waiting.

"Rachel, you're not a kid anymore. You didn't need me."

"But you need me," Rachel started "You don't love him do you?"

"Which one?" Shelby asked annoyed, rolling her eyes.

"Dustin." She said pretty quietly, not wanting her mother to get mad at her.

"And why would you say that?" she asked wanting to know how she knew, weather she could tell by her body language towards Will or if she could just tell in her attitude.

"I just thought that you and Mr. Schu-"

"No, " she cut her off maybe a little to soon. "We never," she tried to think of how to phrase this. "We never officially went out. We only went out twice,"

"So technically you did go out." Rachel looked up at her smiling.

"If we're getting into technicalities, yes, we went out, but nothing more then that."

"You are a terrible liar mom." She said as the smile got bigger. "You love him and you know it."

"You're right, I do love Dustin."

Just then Rachel Berry learned how stubborn her mother was.

"Mom! Admit it, you like Will WAY more then Dustin."

"That's not for you to judge Rachel, I love Dustin and we're getting married."

"But why, you don't want too."

"Rachel!" she paused to calm herself down. "Weather or not I love him, and I do, we're getting married."

"He's horrible to everyone, I highly doubt he'll change that."

"He is not" Shelby lied. "Not everyone anyways." She said under her breath, combing her fingers through her hair slowly.

"Fine but most people." Rachel said annoyed. She got up and grabbed her purse. "I got to go." Rachel went out. Shelby watched her. Shelby followed her.

"Rachel!" she tried to get her attention. "Do you want a ride home?"

"I'll walk, it's fine." She said without stopping or turning around.

"Great job Shelby, she's more angry with you then she already was." She said to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

Shelby walked in the door of Dustin's house. He wasn't home yet. She was in for it tonight. He was extremely pissed at her.

She went into their room, and looked in the mirror. She pulled down her shirtsleeve a little so she could see the bruise that Dustin gave her the night before for refusing him. She looked at it for a while before hearing the door open and shut downstairs. She fixed her sleeve and went downstairs to meet him.

"How was the rest of the day?" She asked sitting down, fiddling with her earring. He ignored her, putting his laptop case down. "That bad?"

He still ignored her. "You cut practice short today? It's barely-"

"There was no practice today. I cancelled it."

"Oh," She looked down.

"What's for dinner?" he asked extremely annoyed with her.

"I, I don't know I didn't have time to-"

"What have you been doing?" He cut her off.

"I was with Rachel, I didn't have time."

"Why were you with her?"

"Is her being my daughter not enough?"

"I thought you hated her?" he said confused.

"How can you even say that?!"

"Why else would you give her up?"

"I couldn't keep her, I signed a contract while I was pregnant with her."

"What'd you two talk about?"

"Us, actually,"

"Us as in you and me?"

"Yeah."

"How'd she even know about that? You keep your private life so private."

"Schuster…"

"I'll go to the store and get something to make." She said getting up and reaching for her bag and keys.

"We'll just order out tonight."

"Ok." She sat back down and looked down. All was quiet for about five minutes. She got up and went to the kitchen and tried cleaning up a little but. She didn't get very far before he came over and put his arms around her waist, He kissed her neck. She smiled faintly trying to continue.

"Dustin, stop I'm trying to clean this up a little." She tried smiling but he continued, taking the washcloth that she was using to wipe down the counters out of her hand, tossing it in the sink. He pivoted her around and continued kissing her. She had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him back. He used kept his arms on her waist propping her up on the counter. Still kissing her.

"Dustin, not tonight, We've both had a long day." She hopped down off the counter, and walked upstairs."

"I never lose darling, and that's not starting now." He mumbled under his breath.

Shelby gave him some time to calm down before she came downstairs again with a load of laundry.

"What do you want to get for dinner?" She asked eventually after doing the laundry.

"Chinese or Pizza?" He suggested

"Chinese."

He called and ordered their food.

"You wanna watch a movie?" he smiled "But keep in mind I can only watch Funny Girl so many times before I go crazy."

"Noted. How about-"

"Please no Striesand." He begged.

"Ha, hilarious," she said sarcastically. "How 'bout, Titanic? No Streisand, but I can look at Leonardo DiCaprio the entire time." She smiled joking.

"As long as I can watch Kate Winslet."

"Fair enough."

"Hold on though I'll go get the food."

"Okay," She looked over at him and pecked him on the lips before he walked out.

Sooner or later he came back in.

"That was fast." She took the bag as he put the keys down and went to get two wine glasses down. "Chinese and wine? Great combo." She smiled.

"Chardonnay or Pinot?" he called from the other room.

"Chardonnay." She replied separating the food. Getting her Sweet and sour chicken, rice and chopsticks out of the bag and carrying everything into the living room sitting on the couch. He came in seconds later with two glasses, and the bottle of wine. He poured her glass and then his. She started the movie and they ate and watched it together.

She had her head on his shoulder, his arm on her shoulder, hers around his waist. She took another sip of wine. By this time she'd had at least four glasses.

"I love you." He said looking down at her.

"I love you too" she leaned up to kiss him.

From that point on that night was a blur to her. Not to Dustin though.

"I told you I never lose." He said after she'd fallen asleep after the night had gone by. He smirked watching her sleep and kissed her forehead before falling asleep himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Shelby woke up late the next morning, with a monster headache.

"What happened last night?" she asked quietly as to not make her headache worse.

"Well, you got drunk and we-" he smirked

"Why didn't you stop me? You knew I was drunk."

"Because you're pretty funny when you're drunk." He replied laughing. She looked at the clock then jumped out of bed getting ready as quickly as she could. Instead of her usual coffee she drank as much water as she could before school started to try to get the alcohol out of her system.

"Shelby, you've drunk like four bottles of water and you haven't even left the house yet."

"Well somebody let me get drunk last night." She sounded annoyed as she took an ibuprofen before leaving to calm her headache.

"So suddenly it's my fault that you drank?" She paused

"I'm a girl, I need someone to blame things on. But I am still mad at you for taking advantage of that." She walked out the door. He followed.

"Hey, I have to go somewhere after school so I need to take my car too."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to go talk to Rachel." She got in her car before he could say anything.

She drove to school getting there in record timing and half an hour before classes started. They got there at the same time and walked in together. Jesse walked to her when he saw her. He looked depressed.

"What's wrong princess you lose your magic wand?" Dustin asked. Shelby rolled her eyes.

"Real nice," she said and walked with Jesse. "What happened? You were all happy yesterday."

"Yesterday my girlfriend wasn't accusing me of cheating on her."

"When did she say you cheated on her?"

"She didn't say."

"Aw. I'm sorry." She gave him a hug. "It'll be fine. I hate seeing you upset.

"I'm gonna go talk to her, before she finds something else to accuse me of."

"Ok." She watched him walk away then went into her office getting ready for the first class. The ibuprofen was kicking in, finally. She looked up at the clock and went to her classroom. Luckily she was giving tests all day so she didn't have to teach. The day went bye extremely fast luckily. She had lunch in her office with Dustin; for once something with him went semi-smoothly. The rest of the day went by quickly again. She graded tests for an hour after classes because Rachel was practicing, most likely, right then so it'd be pointless to go. She got about halfway through the tests before leaving to go to McKinley. She managed to get to her car before Dustin came to see her. She drove to McKinley. She walked down the hallway slowly. Rachel walked out of the classroom. She was talking to Finn.

"Yeah we talked yesterday."

"How'd that go?" He asked. Shelby stopped walking listening to them.

"She might be more stubborn then I am." She smiled up at him.

"Rachel, that's near impossible."

"She's engaged to someone she doesn't even like."

"I gotta go. I have football." He kissed her. Shelby smiled at this. As Finn walked away Shelby made her way towards Rachel, but as she walked past the choir room Will grabbed her arm and pulled her into it, and being in heels it was either stumble along into the room or fall on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

"What the he-," She looked up and saw the man she loved. "Will what was that for? I need to talk to Rachel."

"And I need to talk to you." He was trying to be threatening; he was far too soft for that; it was cute actually. She missed him so much.

"What about?"

"You know damn well what about."

"Just don't,"

"Don't what?"

"I don't want to get into this now."

"Shelby you don't love him."

"How would you know?"

"I still love you."

"That doesn't mean that I, that I feel the same way." Will stared at her and she knew he didn't believe her. She didn't believe her. He rolled his eyes.

"What the hell happened?"

"What?"

"Your arm?" He asked pointing to it. Shelby just realized that she had on a tank top that showed the bruise.

"Um- I don't remember." She lied and he knew it.

"Liar. Did he do that to you?" She didn't answer. "Shelby!"

"N-no" She hardly got out before bursting into tears. He threw her arms around her.

"Shelby, why do you stay with him? You deserve so much better then this."

"No I don't I'm a washed up dreamer. I blew it with Rachel, and she hates me right now. Not that I can blame her."

"Shelby," he couldn't think of anything to say so he kissed her. For a second she kissed him back, but she pulled away right after.

"Will I can't. I'm not cheating on him." She wiped her eyes. She hated crying in front of people; it made her feel weak.

"Shelby, break it off with him."

"No! You stopped being able to tell me what to do when we broke up last year."

"You broke up with me it's not like I beat you to make you break up with me."

"He doesn't beat me."

"Your arm says something different."

"Just let that go it was an accident."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying" but of course she was. She looked down.

"Yes you are, you're terrible at it."

"That's offensive, I happen to be a fantastic liar." She said defensively.

"Not to me."

"I have to go." She grabbed her arm back, which he'd had the entire time. She walked out and he followed her.

"Shelby Elizabeth Corcoran!" she turned around hearing her full name. When she turned he was right behind her. "I-" she cut him off and kissed him.

"You happy now is this what you wanted?" Instead of replying he kissed her again. She loved him. She knew it, he knew it, and even Rachel, who she hadn't seen in a year and a half, knew it.

"Shelby!" She knew the voice all to well. She pulled away from the kiss, and Will put her behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dustin demanded. Shelby didn't know if he was talking to Will or her.

"I should ask you the same thing." Will walked towards Dustin.

"I can defend myself Will," Shelby spoke up from behind them.

"Clearly you can't look at your arm. Look how he treats you."

"Don't do this to me." She said softly.

"What's going on here?" Rachel asked walking down the hall towards them.

"Dear God could this get any worse." Shelby mumbled.

"Your mother is being a pain." Will stated annoyed.

"Just because you're not getting your way doesn't make me a pain." Shelby rolled her eyes.

"Kiss him like you kissed me." Will challenged.

"Will, I don't have to prove anything to you." She backfired.

"Mom?"

"Do it Shelby."

"Fine." She walked over to him. Before she had the chance to kiss him, he pulled her into a kiss. She put her hand behind his neck and kissed back. At one point she tried to pull away, and it was pretty far into the kiss, but he kept her in the kiss.

"Mom…" Rachel rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Finally she managed to pull away. She hesitated, and turned back to them.

"There, happy?" Will stormed off. Shelby looked down. Rachel huffed and followed him. "Rach," Shelby attempted but she didn't even turn around. She watched them walk out before Dustin grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the hall. Again her two choices were to stumble along or fall on her face. "Dustin, stop please, that hurts." She asked but his grip only got tighter.

"Get in." He threw her wrist back at her. She did. Neither of them said a word the entire car ride home. Shelby just stared out the window. When he pulled in the driveway both of them just sat there for a while. He was the first to get up. She followed.

"Dustin…" she said when they got inside. Shelby couldn't get any other words out before he turned around and smacked her across the face. She was shaking. Dustin said nothing else before walking upstairs. Shelby leaned against the door crying silently. Her hand was holding her sore cheek. She heard Dustin coming downstairs again; She walked into the kitchen wiping her eyes. He came in.

"Quit crying you little slut."

"I'm not a slut."

"You made out with another guy while you're engaged to me, I can call you a slut if I want to."

Will was in his office thinking about what had just happened. Rachel walked in.

"Mr. Schu? You ok?"

"I think I'm going to have to agree with you, your mom is one of the most stubborn people I've ever met."

"First off she's my mother, not my mom, but I know."

"Give her a break she's only marrying him so she can support you when you turn 18."

"Why with him. She knows I won't want to be anywhere near him, it's not like it's fixing anything."

"Your _Mother_ thinks it will."

"I don't understand her."

"Join the club." Will said looking at her. "She thinks she always has to be so strong for everybody, she hates showing emotion because she thinks it makes her look weak."

"Sounds like you understand a lot more then I do." Rachel admitted looking down.

"Well you have ignored her for the last year."

"She replaced me! She could've had me but got that precious baby."

"She didn't replace you. You can't be replaced, and even if she did try harder to get you back, do you think your dads would just give you back to her?"

"No, I guess not."

"She's a lot more then you give her credit for. She's more then she gives herself credit for, but she does some really stupid things sometimes. And as much as you think you hate her you wouldn't be here without her."

"You really love her don't you.

"Yeah, I do, it doesn't matter though she isn't going to leave him."

"How do you know? If he did something to her-"

"He already beats her. What else should he have to do before she realizes he doesn't want her for anything other then-"

"Don't say it." She thought for a minute. "If she won't leave him, try to get him to leave her." Rachel looked over at him, and he smiled.

"That's not going to be easy."

"Did I ask for easy?" Rachel responded, raising her eyebrows.

"So you're helping."

"It would be nice to have a mom…. So I guess."

"Okay, I'll be over there soon… Love you too…. Okay, Bye." Shelby hung up.

"Where are you going?" Dustin asked.

"Well, I have to go pick up Beth from my mom's but my car is still at McKinley. Can you take me by to get it?"

"Can't you take my car?"

"The car seat is in my car."

"Fine."

"Thanks." That was the most they'd talked since the whole incident that was hardly an hour ago. They made their way to his car.

"I'm sorry," Shelby confessed.

"Saying it fifteen times isn't going to make me forgive you any quicker."

"I know…" He pulled up to McKinley as Schuster and Rachel were walking out. Shelby got out of the car and when Dustin saw Will he did too. Shelby was about to get in when Dustin kissed her.

"Love you" he called as he was walking back to the driver side of his car.

"Love you too." She didn't know why his attitude had changed so suddenly until she looked in the rear view mirror and saw Will. She ignored him and reached into her bag for her make-up bag; she did her best to cover the red spot on her face with con-cealer and bronzer. She may have been terrible with relationships but she was great with make-up. Will hadn't even tried to come over to her car. She drove to her mom's and picked up Beth.

"Hey baby." She kissed her forehead. "Thanks mom. I love you." She managed to get out of the house before her mom started a long conversation. Shelby put Beth in her car seat and got home.

She got home and carried Beth in and tossed her purse down on the couch and took Beth up to her room and laid her in her crib. She was exhausted. They both were, but instead of being a normal baby and falling asleep she decided to stay awake and cry for an hour and a half. When Shelby finally got her asleep she sat in the rocking chair and fell asleep. In hindsight her day probably hadn't gone as smoothly as it could've.


	8. Chapter 8

Shelby woke up in the middle of the night to Beth crying. Dustin had come in and picked her up.

"How did you hear her?" She asked confused since she was in the room and his room was down the hall.

"She's been screaming for the last 10 minutes."

"How did I not wake up?" she mumbled. Shelby got up and walked across the room to Dustin. She looked down at Beth. "You want me to take her?"

"Yeah, please." Dustin handed her to Shelby and walked out of the room.

Shelby patted Beth on the back and tried to get her back asleep. About 15 minutes later she finally fell asleep. She wasn't sure if Dustin wanted her in his room so she stayed in there and fell back asleep on the chair.

Luckily it was Saturday, because Shelby didn't wake up until 11:00, which for having a 1 year old was really good. Beth slept until then also. She came downstairs with Beth on her hip. She sat Beth down on the floor and let her crawl. She started cleaning up the kitchen. Dustin walked in the door.

"Good morning…"

"It's hardly morning anymore."

"Okay then."

"I love you Shelby."

"I love you too." She put her head on his shoulder and hugged him. He kissed her.

"Dustin," he ignored her and kissed her neck. "Dustin," She tried again but it was pointless, before she knew it they were upstairs in his room.

She wanted to protest and fight back, but she couldn't. By the time it was over she was sore; Dustin was by no means a gentle man.

"I'm going to take a shower." Dustin got up going into the bathroom.

"Okay." Shelby got her phone out to go through her messages. She had conversation between her and Will saved; it was before they broke up. She smiled as she went threw it. She started texting Will.

'Hey… Are you still mad at me.' She asked.

'Not as much as I am at him.' He replied about five minutes later.

'Well I can't control what he does.'

'Obviously,'

'That was a bit harsh. And I don't need to control him'

'Well he doesn't need to control you either, but you'll let him do it.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'It means that you're stubborn'

'Tell me something I don't know. Where do you think Rachel gets it from.'

'I love you Shelby, and you love me and you know it! You can't kiss me how you did and not love me.'

'And Dustin? I kiss him more then that, how can you explain that if "I love you so much" '

'You kiss him out of fear.'

'Prove it. Until you can, this conversation is over.'

She never checked for a reply, she just got up, and left the room, leaving her phone on the bed. She needed to get some work done. She went downstairs and tried to find the tests that she had given that week. She sorted threw her bag but couldn't find them. Shelby had to get some work done so she decided to drive up to Carmel to get them so she could get them graded.

Luckily she got out of the house before Dustin had gotten out of the shower.

When she got up there she stopped by the auditorium. Shelby walked into the auditorium and down the isle towards the stage. Someone had left the lights on over the weekend so the stage light was shining bright. She smiled as she neared the stage. She hadn't really sung on stage since getting back to Ohio from New York, sure she sung to help Vocal Adrenaline at practice, but never for herself. Dustin hated it when she did because it "Gave her to much freedom". There were two songs that she could sing that would fit perfectly, both by Katy Perry actually, which was a welcomed change from her usual Broadway songs.

She belted out the lyrics _to "Thinking Of You"._ Shelby never noticed the door open. Will came in and sat down in the back when he saw her on stage. She couldn't see anything past the beaming stage lights. It all looked like a black hole to her.

…  
_Cause when I'm with him_

_I am thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one_

_Who was spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_ Was looking into your eyes._

…

She loved the feeling that singing on stage gave her. She missed it so much.

_He kissed my lips_

_I taste your mouth_

_He pulled me in_

_I was disgusted with myself_

_Cause when I'm with him_

_I am thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one_

_Who was spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_Was looking into_

_You're the best_

_And yes I do regret_

_How I could let myself_

_Let you go_

_Now the lesson's learned_

_I touched it I was burned_

_Oh I think you should know_

_Cause when I'm with him_

_I am thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one_

_Who was spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_Was looking into your eyes_

_Looking into your eyes_

_Looking into your eyes_

_Oh won't you walk through_

_And bust in the door_

_And take me away_

_Oh no more mistakes_

_Cause in your eyes I'd like to stay._

Bye the end of the song, she was in tears. She was kneeling on the stage leaning back on her legs. She didn't plan on being that theatrical and emotional, it just happened. She meant every word she'd said. She did wish that she was kissing Will instead of Dustin, and she was disgusted with herself when she'd let Dustin go to far. She didn't want to and she couldn't stop him. She looked down and put her head in her hands continuing crying; it wasn't long until she felt someone's warm embrace around her. She knew immediately who's it was. It was far to gentle to be Dustin. Shelby put her arms around Will and cried into his shoulder.

"Will," she barely managed to get out stuttering and crying.

"Shh. Shelby its ok." He soothed.

"I love you." She admitted stopping the tears long enough to look up at him.

"I know. I love you too."

"What about Dustin…" She was starting to get control of herself again, laying her head on his shoulder still.

"Break it off with him."

"But-"

"I thought you loved me."

"I do, but he won't take this well. He isn't going to just let me go."

"Then you let him go, you can't honestly tell me that you didn't know about all the times he cheated on you. Use that and break it off."

"I'll try…" it went silent for a few minutes. "Will, I meant every word I sang, I-I don't let him-"

"I know, you're better then how he treats you."

"Alright well I'd better go and get this over with."

Shelby slowly got up and went into her office to grab what she'd come for. She then left. This was going to be a long night.


	9. Chapter 9

Shelby took a deep breath and walked in the door of her fiancé's house.

"Dustin?" She set her bag down and walked up the steps. She walked into their room. "Dustin,"

"Really you had to go see him?" he was sitting on their bed holding her phone.

"What are you talking about?" She saw her phone "How'd you get into my phone?"

"Your password is your favorite movie, Funny Girl wasn't to hard to guess."

"I didn't know that you knew my favorite movie." She was a bit surprised.

"We watch it constantly, how can I not know it's your favorite movie."

"Oh, I just didn't think you cared." She said turning around.

"Of course I care." He got up following her out of the room.

"If you cared so much you wouldn't have cheated on me with Holly!" She whipped her body around facing him, this time she didn't look scared or timid, she looked angry and like she wasn't going to give up.

"How'd you know about that?"

"You must think I'm a complete idiot. When you come home smelling like another girls perfume it's pretty obvious!"

"I'm sorry!" he admitted, but she turned her head, she'd never heard him apologize for anything before. She turned her head. He leaned in to kiss her.

"Dustin, No. I'm done with this. I can't- I can't marry you." Shelby took off the ring and handed it to him; he didn't like what she was doing.

"One more time Shelby," he looked at her.

"No Dustin, I can't."

"I wasn't asking you Shelby." He looked down at her. His eyes were beaming, and she was more afraid then ever of him, and she knew he could tell.

"I'm not giving in Dustin, I said no and I meant it and you can't-"

He cut her off kissing her. He grabbed her arms pushing her against the wall. She tried to move out of his grasp but he was too strong for her.

"Dustin let go! Let go of me!" she yelled as soon as he stopped kissing her. She looked up and saw him glaring down at her. She looked down. "I love Will," she said in almost a whisper. He slapped her across her face, and then threw her from his reach.

"Get your crap and get out!"

"Gladly," and she did just that. She got everything that was hers and left. She had nowhere to go. So she drove up to Carmel and sat in the parking lot. She got out her phone.

'I did it.'

It seemed like forever until she got a response though.

'What happened?' He asked a while later. She told him everything and he told her to come to his apartment and she could stay there.

She decided on going to Will's. She walked up to his door with just her purse. She knocked on the door of his apartment and waited.

"Shelby," he smiled seeing her but the smile faded when he saw her face. "What he do? "

"Doesn't matter." She leaned in to kiss him but he stopped her. "He slapped me when I told him I loved you." She said still smiling.

"You look happy because?"

"Because even though he hit me, he can't anymore, I'm with you that's all that matters." She kissed him and put her purse down. He pulled away.

"I love you Shelby."

"I love you too."

"You wanna go to Breadstix?"

"Sure" she smiled and they walked out the door, together.

That was quite possibly the best night of Shelby's life. Nothing was forced to happen. He didn't make her do anything; they relaxed and watched "The Way We Were" once they got home. They then both went to bed. Shelby thought she was finally getting her happy ending.


	10. Chapter 10

Shelby woke up the next day before Will. She had almost forgot that Beth was spending the weekend with her mom. She didn't have to pick her up until tonight though. Unfortunately, all of Beth's toys were at Dustin's house, along with her crib. So she needed to go get all of that before tonight.

She got up gently, as not to wake Will, and went into the living room to clean up from the previous night. She fixed the blanket on the couch where they were laying, and wiped down the counters and the table. She did a few other jobs also. She would've done the dishes but had no idea where anything went. By the time she was done Will had woken up and come in the kitchen. She was sitting at the table tracing a bruise on her arm with her finger.

"Good morning." He said fairly tiredly and sat next to her. She looked up. Shelby had her long brown hair in a loose, messy bun. She wore her glasses, which she almost never wore. As for her pajamas she had on a pair of baggy sweatpants and a plain white v-neck.

"Good morning" she said in a quiet, almost raspy voice.

"Tired?" Will asked and smiled

"A bit."

"How long've you been up?"

"Not to long." She said shaking her head a bit. He looked around noticing a significant difference from how his apartment looked last night and how it did now.

"You didn't have to clean up."

"I didn't mind. I'm so used to it in the morning", and all other times of the day, "it just became a habit."

"I don't want you to feel compelled to though."

"Will, it's fine, relax." She smiled looking over at him.

"I love you Shelby."

"I love you too." She replied still smiling. There was a short silence, "Will, what should I do with Beth's crib and stuff. Where is she going to sleep?" She knew he'd forgotten Beth until this point.

"I was planning on putting her in the guest bedroom; it's right across the hall from _our _room." He hadn't even hesitated to call it their room.

"Ok. I'll have to go get her crib and stuff from Dustin's at some

point today.

"Where is Beth anyway?" He asked a bit confused.

"She's at my mom's house, She usually watches her for me."

"Oh ok."

"I should probably go get all that now. Dustin always goes to the gym in the morning." She said getting up. She went into their room to get changed and he followed her.

"You want me to come?"

"No you don't have to." She said putting on a pair of Nike shorts and a t-shirt.

"Ok."

She kissed him and picked up her keys and wallet and walked out.

By the time she got to his house she figured that he would be on his way home from the gym. She walked up to his garage and punched in the code, walking in she went straight up to Beth's room. She packed up the things that she would defiantly need and undid the crib.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" She heard an all-to-familiar voice coming from above her.

"I have to get my daughters crib and clothes and stuff that you didn't give me time to get when you kicked me out."

"Well I wasn't sluting around-" he started.

"You were to! You cheated on me several times for Holly Holiday." She whipped her body around facing him. He loved it when she was pissed at him. He thought it made her seem even more hot then she already was. "I got sick of being treated like crap."

"I could've been a lot worse." He threatened.

"I don't see how that's possible; you treated me like crap."

"Trust me I could've been worse."

"Whatever."

"Lose the attitude princess."

"A: I'm not your princess. B: You lost the right to tell me what to do when I left." She turned to finish packing up Beth's things but he grabbed her wrist. He kissed her. Before she could move he pinned her against the wall. She couldn't move. The only thing she could do was kiss him back and she wasn't about to do that. When he finally pulled away from the kiss for air she went off on him.

"What the hell was that! Dustin let go of me right now!" she managed to get one hand free. She couldn't help it but the momentum of her hand flying out of his forced her to smack him across the face. She covered her mouth with her free hand.

"Get her stuff and get out of my house." He walked out of the room. She did just that then got home as quick as she could.

"What'd he do?" He asked as he helped her set up Beth's crib in the guest bedroom.

"Surprisingly nothing to bad."

"Which was?" he asked already wanting to beat him up.

"He pinned me to the wall and kissed me, but I slapped him and he walked away."

"I would've loved to see you smack him." He admitted smiling.

"It was on accident." She laughed. "I didn't want or mean to."

"Why would you not want to? It was your chance to get him back?"

"He still sc-," She paused. Shelby hated admitting that people scared her. She reworded her sentence. "Never mind I just didn't think it was the best idea at the time."

"Why not? He clearly wasn't going to do anything about it."

"I wasn't going to risk it Will. Can we please just let it go?"

"Why you can't just not talk to anyone about this."

"Maybe some people can't but I can."

"Shelby, you need to talk to someone."

"I'm not talking about this anymore. It's done. I'm here." She rolled her eyes and finished up Beth's room. When she finished she walked out of the room.

"Shelby!" he followed. He gently grabbed her wrist.

"Will please stop it." She turned towards him and looked at the clock. "I have to go pick up Beth." She did and it was fairly quiet the rest of the night. Shelby took care of Beth and got her settled in, and Will made dinner. Dinner was almost completely silent they said almost nothing. She new Will was right, but being the stubborn person she was, she wasn't going to admit that. She knew Will was a softie and would give up before she did.

When they were done eating Shelby did the dishes and spent practically the rest of the night in Beth's room.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Ok, sorry about chapter before last I was really unclear about what happened to Beth. I hope I cleared it up pretty well. **

Shelby had woken up a bit earlier then usual because she now had twenty minutes less to drive to school. Again she tried to get up without waking Will. He would be getting up eventually. She went through her bag, which she had yet to unpack, to find her work clothes. She took a shower and got ready. Some how it hadn't woken Will up. She'd blow-dried her hair and gotten done her make-up. She was checking her bag to make sure she had everything when Will came out of their room looking tired and a bit dazed.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked looking up at him. She was kneeling on the ground next to her bag. Her stilettos were already hurting her feet. It was defiantly going to be a long day.

"No," He replied rubbing his eyes tiredly. She looked up at him a bit confused. "Terri was twice as loud as you in the mornings. I'm used to sleeping through it." Shelby nodded and stood up. She went into Beth's room. She had already gotten her dressed and ready and she was crawling around her crib. Shelby picked her baby girl up gently and put her on her hip walking out by Will.

"I gotta go. Bye."

"Love you." He kissed her.

'YES!' she screamed in her head. 'He gave up first.' She wasn't used to winning; she'd been living with Dustin for the last few months and never won anything.

"Love you too." She smiled and walked out with Beth and all her bags.

After taking her daughter to her mom's house, and some pretty good road-rage, she made her way to Carmel. Shelby walked into the building and saw Jesse.

"Jesse? Why're you here?"

"I came by to talk to you."

"If it's about Dustin-" She smiled, but he cut her off.

"Shelby listen to me I know you think-"

"Jesse I-"

"No listen to me. I know about all the times he-"

"Jesse!" She smiled and raised her hand up so he could see the bare ring finger. "I called it off." She admitted still smiling. He threw his arms around her.

"That's great. Where are you staying?"

"Will's" They talked for a while before she saw Dustin walking down the hallway. "Oh dear God. I'll talk to you later I have to go." She smiled and walked in the other direction towards her office. Dustin followed her.

"So, how many times have you slept with him you little whore?" He asked following her as she hurried down the hallway.

"Just because you didn't get your way doesn't make me a whore," she said as she reached her office and set her stuff down behind the desk. "And I haven't slept with him."

"You're so full of it."

"No really. In a real relationship the people try to settle in together and take some time before they rush into that." He just glared at her as she said this. "I'm actually happy and I'm away from you."

"You'll never get away from me and you'll always be my whore. Schuster can't protect you anymore then you did. Look where that got you." He walked out. She hated him. Shelby slammed her door after him and sat at her desk. He terrified her; he didn't even have to threaten her like that, he did it naturally, and he was good at it too.

She wasn't really looking to VA practice today. That wasn't going to be fun. Crap why had she worn her new Stilettos?! That was a very bad idea. Unfortunately the day went by very quickly. She was giving tests all day that day, so she sat there and graded all the English papers whilst the students took their tests. She looked around the room tiredly and then at the clock; only twenty minutes left until lunch. The fact that she looked over at the clock every 45 seconds made it feel even longer. She got on her laptop and checked her school email. That made things go by a little quicker. The bell finally rang and after all the students turned in their tests she left the room.

Shelby went into her office and got her lunch. She was facing the wall getting her lunch bag out.

"So when are you gonna come back?" she cringed hearing his voice.

"Are you ever going to leave me alone?" She didn't turn around or even turn her head towards him.

"Nah, to much fun."

"I think you should go Dustin."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't have to put up with this."

"You're right, you don't. You could quit this job and go to McKinley where the arts aren't appreciated and the pay is much less then here, but you won't do that because you can't afford to lose what you have here."

"And if I tried to report you for harassment?"

"You think people would believe you over me?"

"Get away from me Dustin."

"What if I don't want to?" he got closer until he was kneeling next to her next to her stuff.

"Dustin…" She cringed when he put his hands on her shoulder and slid them down her body. "Don't"

"And if I do?" he kissed her neck resting his hands around her waist. Knowing her weak spots he used them. He kissed just underneath her right ear, and put his arms around her upper thighs. Shelby leaned back towards him; she knew what he was doing and hated that it was working.

"Dustin. No please don't do that." Shelby begged but it was useless. She looked up at him and kissed him. When he deepened the kiss she knew there was no getting out of this one. For over half of the lunch period they sat there together making out.

Eventually Dustin pulled away. He smirked standing up.

"I told you you'd always be my little whore. You can go out with or even marry him, but you'll never be through with me." Dustin smirked at her walking out of her office. Shelby was by no means proud of what she'd done, but unfortunately she enjoyed it. She hadn't been close to anyone like that since leaving him for Will. She couldn't eat her lunch; she was too disgusted with herself.

Vocal Adrenaline practice came all to soon. She got there 10 minutes earlier then everyone else as usual. Today she sang. She loved being on the stage. This time Shelby sang Katy Perry's _Not Like The Movies_.

Snow White said when I was young

One day, my prince will come so I'll wait for that date

They say it's hard to meet your match

Gotta find my better half so we make perfect shapes

She looked to make sure no one was there yet. No one was so she kept singing.

…

Just like the movies

That's how it will be

Cinematic and dramatic

With the perfect ending

…

Oh course when she looked out Dustin was coming in. She hopped off the stage and went towards her chair.

She ignored him. He sat next to her smirking.

"You wanna have another make-out session?" he looked over at her smirking deeply.

"Dustin, we're not engaged anymore. You don't own me. I shouldn't have let you in the first place."

"But you did, and I still do." He backfired, smirking. He leaned in to kiss her neck again; Shelby stuck her hand up so he stopped right before he kissed her hand.

"You need to stop." Thank God some of the Vocal adrenaline kids came in.

"Andrea, Kayla, get ready for _Memory _you're starting with that." She instructed and they went onto the stage and began warming up. The rest of the kids came in and she got up following them onstage.

"_Midnight_

_Not a sound from the pavement_

_Has the moon lost her memory?_

_She is smiling alone_

_In the lamplight_

_The withered leaves collect at my feet_

_And the wind begins to moan" Andrea began._

"_Memory_

_All alone in the moonlight_

_I can smile at the old days_

_I was beautiful then_

_I remember the time I knew what happiness was_

_Let the memory live again _

_Every streetlamp_

_Seems to beat a fatalistic warning_

_Someone mutters_

_And the streetlamp gutters_

_And soon it will be morning" Kayla sang. They were perfectly in tune._

"_Daylight_

_I must wait for the sunrise_

_I must think of a new life_

_And I musn't give in_

_When the dawn comes_

_Tonight will be a memory too_

_And a new day will begin _

_Burnt out ends of smoky days_

_The stale cold smell of morning_

_The streetlamp dies, another night is over_

_Another day is dawning _

_Touch me_

_It's so easy to leave me_

_All alone with the memory_

_Of my days in the sun_

_If you touch me_

_You'll understand what happiness is _

_Look_

_A new day has begun_" They finished together.

The group sang _Someone like you _by Adele, and _Love it when you call_ by Kerry Ellis. As soon as practice was over she bolted out of Carmel, well as fast as she could with her stilettos on.


	12. Chapter 12

Shelby walked into the apartment, after picking up Beth pretty slowly. It looked like Will wasn't home. She went into their bedroom; She didn't notice the person sitting on the bed until she looked in the mirror. When she saw her she jumped. Shelby whipped her body around facing her.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"You don't look very happy to see me."

"Why are you here?" Shelby asked.

"This was my home to, maybe I came to get something." Yes it was none other then Will's crazy ex-wife Terri.

"Then why are you still here?"

"I came back looking for my spare keys and saw that you moved in."

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Please no one else in Lima can afford your fashion sense…and Emma told me."

"You can leave anytime you're ready." Shelby said fairly moody, grabbing her bag and went into the kitchen sitting down and starting to grade the tests she gave earlier that day. She got, maybe, a half of a page done before Terri came over and sat by her.

"How do you even do anything around here? You're about as much of a workaholic as Will." Terri asked; she knew she was getting on Shelby's nerves and she loved it.

"No one asked you to probe in my personal life."

"I don't care." She paused "Let me guess, when you fight he gives in first, he smothers you the second you walk in the door, he-" Shelby cut her off.

"Your point?" Shelby asked annoyed.

"He hasn't changed since he was married to me. He never will." She stood there glaring at Shelby. She grabbed her bag and walked towards the door. "And I'd ask you about what he does in bed," she chuckled "but we both know you haven't gotten that far." She walked out the door just minutes before Will came in.

"How was work today Shelbs?" he said as soon as he walked in the door. He hadn't called her by her nickname in a long time.

"It was fine." She decided not to tell him about Terri or Dustin. "How was yours?"

"It was fine. I had to deal with Santana trying to start stuff today."

"Doesn't surprise me…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I just hear that Santana can be pretty vicious…"

"Name one person she's been terrible to." He said knowing that she was mean to everyone but he should defend her.

"Rachel…"

"Fair enough." He surrendered. There was a long silence before Shelby had asked him what he wanted to do for dinner that night.

"I'll cook" He smiled at her and walked towards the kitchen.

"I'll help. I don't cook much though, fair warning." Shelby followed him. He went to the fridge and got out two chicken breasts, mushrooms and asparagus. She smiled and helped him make it. The dinner, somehow, turned out perfectly, and that was surprising because Shelby was not very good at cooking.

During dinner Will talked about how well Rachel had been doing in Glee club.

"She's been great. She had a duet with Santana today; they were amazing.

"What song?" Shelby asked looking down. She was a bit sad that he got to spend more time with Rachel then she did.

"'What is this Feeling' from _Wicked." _Shelby laughed slightly after hearing this.

"She's becoming just like you." He smiled. "You have to see her perform."

"I'd love to… If I could." She didn't look up.

"I'm sorry that was really insensitive." He looked at her.

"No, it's fine. I do need to see her perform soon though. It's been almost two years." She looked up revealing her face. When Will saw her eyes she looked like she was about to burst into tears any second.

"Shelby,"

"17 years that I haven't gone to one ballet recital, singing competition, anything."

"You went to regionals, and you saw her at sectionals."

"That doesn't count. I was there for reasons other then to see her."

"Shelby she loves you. She misses you too. I'm positive she forgave you because she told me."

"It's not that I didn't think she forgave me, that's not the point. I wasn't there for it." She said without changing her sad and gentle tone.

"Shelby, just stop, you always downgrade yourself." He said and Shelby turned her head, looking away and breathing a little heavier. "You think you're a terrible mother but you aren't. You did what was best for her."

"Then why isn't she with me right now. I need her back. It's killing me that I don't have her here." When she said this Will noticed the tears forming in the corner of her eyes before they slid down her cheek. There was a long silence before Shelby got up and took her plate to the sink. Will did the same.

"Just let me do it." She said, her voice sounded fragile, like it was about to break.

"I will. You've done it every night since you got here. Go rest." "She nodded and went into their bedroom.

When Will came into their room about a fifteen minutes later, Shelby was lying down with her head on the pillow facing the opposite way and she was silently crying. She hadn't changed. Will walked over to her and laid next to her. He put his arm around her. Will moved the hair away from her neck and kissed it gently.

"Shelby," she didn't budge. "Hun…" She slowly turned over facing him without moving his arm from around her.

"What?" She moved her eyes around without looking at him.

"I know you're upset… but maybe you should talk to her."

"I can't. Her dads still don't want me around her, they wouldn't let her around me."

"They won't know." Will added. "And she wouldn't have to keep it up for long, she's almost an adult then her dads can't legally keep her from you."

"They can do worse though. They could cut her off or…. I don't know."

"Shelby…"

"I'm going to get in the shower, then maybe grade some tests." She said sitting up and slowly sliding herself off the bed. On her way out she got a baggy sweatshirt, a tank top, yoga pants, and underclothes.

She got in the shower thinking about how Dustin would've reacted to that. One thought led to another and soon she was thinking about the lunch period today. It wasn't a happy thought. She got out dried off and slowly got dressed. Shelby washed her face and brushed her teeth, dried her hair with her towel and put it up in a ponytail. Walking out she almost ran into Will.

"Sorry" She said looking down before she went back into their room. He followed. Shelby put her dirty clothes in the hamper then grabbed her glasses out of her bag. Then she went to put Beth to sleep.

"You look cute in those." Will said sitting next to her at the table while she graded.

"You don't have to lie, I know I look like hell right now."

"No you don't." he scooted closer. She looked at him and laughed.

"Yes I do." She smiled for a brief second before lashing it off her face. Shelby looked back down at the tests. She put her head in one hand and graded with the other.

"Trust me you don't. You want some help?"

"Sure." She handed him a stack of paper consisting of twenty or so tests. She then slid her answer key over so he could see it too. They finished in about 15 minutes. She got up, kissed him and went into their room.

"Thank you."

"For helping grade the tests?

"For everything."

"You're welcome." She laid back on the pillow, barley able to keep her eyes open.

"Good night Shelbs."

"Good night Will." She rolled over facing the door. He scooted closer to her and put his arms around her.

Will was now, more then ever, determined to make her happy about her relationship with her daughter.


	13. Chapter 13

Shelby woke up the next morning finding that Will had already gotten up and was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. She came back into their room and got dressed. She settled on a black pencil skirt with a white long sleeve shirt. She was going to wear heels again but didn't want to put them on any sooner then she had to so she carried them out to the living room along with her purse, laptop case and bag.

"You look nice."

"Thanks, I have a bunch of meetings during school today with parents and the principal for Vocal Adrenaline and I'm stressing out about it a little." She still looked depressed about last night. Before he had a chance to say anything she walked into the bathroom to do her hair and makeup. She braided her hair to the side because she didn't have time to do anything like straighten it or make it wavy. When she was done she came back out grabbing a glass of water. He carried two plates over to the table. She sat down next to him. He had made pancakes and eggs. She ate fairly quickly because she had to leave soon. They didn't say much. She did the dishes and cleaned up while he woke up Beth. Will carried her out into the kitchen and handed her to Shelby as she finished. Shelby changed her one and a half year old baby, which was not the easiest task. She carried her along with her baby bag out into the kitchen. Shelby collected everything she needed and headed towards the door.

"Love you Will"

"Love you too Shelbs" He replied trying to get all of his stuff together and she walked out.

After dropping Beth off at her mom's, she headed towards her office. She saw Dustin. When he saw her he followed her towards her office.

"Not in the mood today Dustin." She said still upset.

"Aw did you two get in a fight?"

"No. Not all my moods have to do with who I'm engaged to or who I'm dating. When I was engaged to you though you were the cause of most of them." She reached her office and tried to slam the door on him put he put his foot in the way of the door and entered her room.

"Your ass looks nice in that skirt." He commented smirking in the chair across from hers.

"Dustin. Leave me alone please."

"You going out tonight?"

"GET OUT!" she snapped.

"What? Two adults can't have a civil conversation?" he asked laughing.

"What the hell do you want from me?"

"A lot."

"Well your not getting anything." She glared at him. He got up and closed her door and blinds. She turned away getting out her laptop and didn't see him lock the door.

"Well I could tell Will about our make out session yesterday." He said sitting back down. Shelby flung her head up, well she tried to but the desk got in the way. She slowly sat up holding the back of her head.

"You wouldn't"

"I think you know very well that I would."

"Dustin," he got up and walked towards her; she mirrored him and walked further away until she hit her desk and she fell back sitting on it. He smirked and leaned in to kiss her. She pulled away slightly. He shot her a look asking her if she really wanted to do that. She tensed up and he leaned in again this time making sure she didn't pull away. He put his arms around her waist keeping them there for a short time before he'd moved them up. She continuously tried moving them back down but it didn't work. He finally pulled away for air.

"Dus-" he kissed her again. "Dustin!" She nudged her head to the side before he tried to kiss her again. "I'm not doing this with you." She looked at her clock. "And we have meetings for Vocal Adrenaline in 10 minutes."

"Then I have five more minutes to kill." He leaned in again. This time she lunged her whole body away from him and hopped down off the desk.

"I don't." He grabbed her wrist.

"You do now."

"You have lipstick on your lips, you're going to need a while to get that off trust me." She grabbed her arm back and quickly unlocked the door and made her way out. She stopped in the restroom to check and re-braid her hair before going to the meeting. When she got there, there were only two seats left of course right next to each other. Dustin walked in about five minutes later and sat down next to her.

The whole thing was boring. They talked about everything pertaining to Vocal Adrenaline. They finished early so they talked about the strength of the team this year. When asked who they thought the best female vocalist was they of course disagreed. They then talked about what songs they should cover next. Shelby suggested _Send in the clowns _and _Unexpected song_ from_ Song and Dance._

"Do you have an infatuation with Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" She countered back. The rest of the group loved listening to their petty quarrels.

Shelby was so happy when that day was over with. She got the day off from practice and she went into her office. She had a text from Will telling her to come to McKinley because he needed help with something. She managed to leave without being blackmailed from Dustin anymore.

When she arrived at McKinley she headed towards the choir room assuming that's where he'd be. When she walked in she saw Quinn and Puck walking out together, fighting as usual. Actually she had passed everyone _but_ Rachel.

"Will?" She went in and saw her daughter looking up at her.

"Hey Mom." She said gently.

"I thought you two would want to talk. I'll be in my office." Will walked out of the room smiling at Shelby.

"Hey Rachel…."


	14. Chapter 14

Shelby slowly walked over and sat by her daughter. She didn't know how to start talking to her. Luckily, Rachel did it for her.

"I'm sorry about snapping on you when we went to starbucks." She looked down. "I didn't need to do that it is your decision."

"Well I broke off the engagement so it doesn't matter. You were right anyway."

"Mom?" she looked up at her. "Can we please be around each other more?" Shelby paused.

"I would love too, but your dads don't want me around you."

"I don't care what they want I'm sick of doing what they want."

"You can take that up with them." There was another long silence.

"How's school been? Will told me about your duet yesterday. Nice choice of song." She said smiling.

"It's been fine. Quinn and Puck have been spending more time together since Finn and her broke up."

"You still like him." Shelby said smiling.

"I'm kind of dating someone else right now."

"Who?" Shelby asked looking at her curiously. Rachel bit her lip knowing her mom wasn't going to like this.

"Jesse," Rachel said. Shelby did her best not to let her jaw drop. "We've been going out since he got back from college.

"Why him? I liked Finn he was nice and…not Jesse." Shelby hadn't exactly had an affair with Jesse but a few years ago at nationals they came close.

"I like him mom."

"Please don't do anything stupid."

"I'm not…" She paused thinking about this. "Never mind."

"You're not me…?" Shelby asked looking down.

"No I was going to say Quinn."

"Understandable." Shelby was actually happy about what Quinn did; it gave her a chance to start a family. "How are your grades? Have you and your dads looked at any colleges yet?"

"They're good. And we've looked at NYU, Julliard, and AMDA."

"New York." She smiled faintly.

"Yeah."

"Which one do you like best?"

"NYU I think."

"My alma mater." Shelby noted.

They talked for what seemed like hours to Will, but he didn't care. Eventually they walked out of the choir room. Rachel walked to her car and Shelby walked to Will's office.

"I love you." She said walking in. He stood up and she hugged him.

"I love you too Shelby." They walked out together.

Shelby lay next to Will. He had already fallen asleep. She pulled the blanket up to cover her bare chest and rolled over to face him. She was happy. This had been the best day she'd had in a long time. She made up with Rachel, she was with Will, and her life seemed perfect. He was gentler then Dustin. With Dustin it was never about love; it was making him happy, but with Will she knew he loved her, and wasn't forcing her to do anything she didn't want to. She slowly drifted asleep.

_Dustin followed Shelby into her office. _

"_Dustin leave me alone." _

"_No." Dustin kept walking towards her. She kept going again until she fell onto her desk. He stood on front of her grabbing her arms. He kissed her. He moved her hands around his neck. She'd pulled away once and got slapped. She wasn't going to argue him anymore. His hands were cupped at her side and she finally gave in. Shelby kissed him back. She new it was wrong. It's not like she wanted to though. _

'_STOP STOP STOP' she yelled at herself in her head._

"_Dustin." He kissed her more forcefully. _

_Her door flew open. _

"_Shelby What are you doing?!" Will asked. She managed to push away from Dustin. Dustin stepped back. They looked at each other for a minute before Will stormed out. _

"_Will!" She got up and ran out side her door but he was already gone._

Shelby woke up, and she threw he body into a sitting position.

'It was just a dream.' She told herself. 'Thank God.' She laid back down sighing and drifting back sleep. Somehow she managed to sleep through the rest of the night.


End file.
